Chapter 161 |
After the long conversation with Cha Do-hyeon, a silence that belonged only to the two of them.
"......"
"......"
It was the Director who broke it.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"I think apologizing first is the right thing to do."
The weight was heavy, but the tone was light.
"You probably gathered from what I told Mr. Cha, but that day must have been really hard on you."
The Director remembered with perfect clarity--the dawn she'd been dragged to the Aqua Park. Gyeong-yeon, upon realizing she'd vanished, must have gone pale and sought out the General Manager.
"What did Mr. Yeon-woo tell you back then?"
"Just that... something urgent came up and you'd left for Seoul ahead of me...."
"You must have been relieved."
"For me, it was just a bad nightmare."
He said he couldn't remember.
"I might remember the guest holding the kitchen knife, or Mr. Yeon-woo getting stabbed... but that kind of thing...."
"There's no benefit in remembering it vividly."
Yeon-woo had ground his own body to dust to shelter this child in blissful ignorance.
"That's why I'm sorry. In many ways."
"For what?"
"After all the effort Yeon-woo put into saving you and sending you out, here I am dragging you back into the jaws of death."
"Wasn't it Mr. Cha who dragged me here?"
"Separate issue."
She hadn't exactly tried hard to stop it, either. The Director scrubbed her face.
"I agree with what you said, Gyeong-yeon. There are many things in this world better left unknown, and this probably falls into that category."
"Why are you suddenly saying this?"
"I'm already caught up in it, and even if ignorance is bliss, I've chosen to know. As you heard during the conversation, I'm in a position where I can afford to."
"And?"
The writer asked.
"You tell me all this and then tell me to bow out?"
"I wanted you to have the choice."
She'd forgotten everything from that dawn at the hotel, and she was a civilian--not an Artist, not a mage. That was precisely why the Director wanted to give the writer she cherished most an authority she otherwise never would have had.
"If I just hid the truth and kept you sidelined, Hong Gyeong-yeon the person would live the rest of her life without ever knowing what she'd avoided, what she'd missed."
That was the choice.
"Put simply, it's my selfishness."
"Selfishness."
"I know it's a terrible thing to do."
"Don't say it like that."
"Then?"
"......"
The writer spoke.
"...If you're going, then it's right for me to follow."
The teacher who had shown her a wider world, again and again. Who had pulled her out of deeper pits.
"I imagine I wasn't in my right mind the day I found out you'd gone missing. I probably tore through every room in a panic and eventually went to Mr. Yeon-woo."
"Probably."
"Just because I can't remember doesn't mean I can't imagine how I felt that day. Someone like me isn't going to back away from a teacher I can see walking straight into the jaws of death."
He was a writer that Lee Seon-hae had made.
"You are going to protect me, right?"
"I'm going to try grabbing our uncle by the collar first."
"You said if it looks like I can't handle it, you'd erase my memory or whatever it is."
"I looked into it--apparently there aren't any real side effects."
"And in that hotel-labyrinth-thing, Mr. Cha said he'd help."
"Since we're hiring him, might as well suck him dry to the marrow, right?"
The Director smiled and added.
"As I always say--you're not allowed to die before me. Hong Gyeong-yeon."
"That's kind of...."
The writer smiled too.
"Like a curse."
"Not a bad one?"
"A bit."
Having the choice.
"I guess I really do like that sort of thing."
The writer who'd wanted to capture all the frightening, painful realities of the world in words chose to take hold of it when she could, however frightening. Chose to try, even if she failed.
"Should we switch back to documentary?"
"Wouldn't this be fantasy even if we shot it as a documentary?"
"When you put it that way, I've got nothing."
"Anything else you're curious about?"
"Director."
Gyeong-yeon said.
"Tell me I can do it."
"That, I honestly don't know."
Even so,
"You're going to try."
She knew that about her.
"I know you're someone who always tries to get better."
"Why so much praise today?"
"If I don't soothe my little scaredy-cat like this, who knows where you'll bolt?"
"See, even when it's reflexive you keep teasing me...."
Seon-hae shrugged.
"Mr. Yeon-woo's going to scold us, isn't he?"
"Now that's scary."
"Let's use Mr. Cha as a shield."
"Good plan."
With a small conspiracy, the scene ended as simply as it had begun.
As it always had.
"......"
"...But really, five years old?"
"Apparently anywhere from five to several thousand."
"To be fair, I could say that much too."
"True enough."
***
The General Manager pondered in his own way.
"How can we attract external users?"
The Water Wraith, holding a fork with a cake slice, spoke.
"Are you sure you should be asking us?"
"You are an employee of this hotel. Remember that."
"You never give me any work and you keep calling me an employee."
"If you've signed a Contract with me, that makes you an employee."
"In a hotel that does nothing but lie about being in its Soft-Opening Period."
"Is a Soft-Opening not an opening?"
Then the vampire, seated in another chair, sipped his tea and spoke.
"Brainwashing is my specialty."
"Hmm, brainwashing."
"More precisely, it's closer to enchantment. Similar to getting someone intoxicated."
"The high probability of aftereffects means this is rejected."
At their exchange, the Water Wraith asked.
"Why is that little greenhorn here when he's not even an official employee, friend?"
"Little greenhorn...."
"A pup who hasn't even dried the blood on his head daring to share a table with me--how presumptuous."
"I learned today that you're this Confucian a Water Wraith."
"Having been everywhere from east to west, I think I'm entitled."
"Your talent for rationalization hasn't faded either."
The vampire raised an eyebrow at the Water Wraith's rebuke.
"It's not as though I want to be near water."
The General Manager, who'd been listening with interest, nodded slowly.
"The White Crow, too--everyone seems to dislike water."
"More precisely, they avoid the Water Wraith here. From the time I fell to a Lidmar and was completed as a labyrinth, this one's temper has been foul."
The Water Wraith then quietly stared at the Guest Without Taste.
"......"
"......"
As the vampire's smile deepened, the General Manager intervened.
"Full authority over this hotel's operations lies with me."
Thus, ejecting both of them was also within General Manager Lee Yeon-woo's authority.
"Let's not create reasons to become awkward with one another."
"Labyrinths don't naturally get along."
"I said 'us.'"
He hadn't expected them to befriend each other.
"You've had enough time to come up with a meaningful answer by now."
"I still prefer just eating them."
"This one's not proving very useful either. How regrettable."
"That sort of petty harassment is only fun when my hand holds a blade."
"Your consistency brings me a strange peace of mind."
That steadfastness gave the General Manager a peculiar sense of stability.
A brief silence. General Manager Lee Yeon-woo turned to Coco, standing on all fours on the table with its pupils dilated, and to No. 14, who had come out for a rare outing and was poking at the macarons on the table.
"......"
"Eeing."
Coco was ultimately transferred to Yeon-woo's lap.
"How endearingly you behave."
The vampire, watching with interested eyes, asked.
"May I eat it?"
"No."
"No, I meant this one."
"No."
Yeon-woo eventually evacuated No. 14 atop his own head. His germaphobic nature made this contact unwelcome, but with Coco in hand, this seemed the only way to protect No. 14.
"If not you yourselves, then what about your lesser counterparts? How do they typically lure people in and induce nightmares?"
The Water Wraith spoke first.
"Through water?" "Spilling it on the floor." "Crawling into their bodies is also popular." "Calling to them from deep water, pretending to be alive." "Or making them irritable with the sound of water...."
"Mainly trap-setting?"
"Making them drop something precious, or showing an illusion of it." "And the moment they reach out to pick it up, snatching them." "Tricking them into misjudging depth and pulling them down with dozens of hands."
After the Water Wraith gave her input, the vampire rolled his eyes and answered the General Manager's question.
"It can commonly be summarized as invitation and enchantment."
"Invitation and enchantment."
"In the case of weaker children of the blood, they can't move freely without the homeowner's permission. They disguise themselves as lost nobles, injured travelers, or attractive members of the opposite sex to get the door opened for them."
"That sounds very familiar."
"They're real, which is why the stories spread."
The old vampire, thinking of weaker vampires, continued.
"Alternatively, they use their eyes to break will, appear in dreams to make themselves seem like a 'fated partner,' or provoke compassion to exploit the living's sympathy... there are many methods."
The General Manager, who'd been still, nodded.
"It seems the superstitions circulating in the world were more credible than I'd thought."
"Not entirely baseless."
The Water Wraith admitted readily.
"I can do it too, friend. You and I are one with water, aren't we? If you wish, dropping a few water droplets would be no trouble at all. We have a Contract."
The vampire added.
"I, too, simply refrained from attempting it out of concern for my dignity. If you designate the living bodies you wish to draw in, I'll escort them as gently as possible."
And Yeon-woo smiled.
"Splendid."
"? Hello?"
"This is usable."
"Hello...!"
"I won't be listening to that."
Whether his future self would regret this was irrelevant.
'What matters is gathering users.'
The General Manager, wearing his signature smile, rolled his eyes.
What to try first?
***
In a seemingly endless tragedy, goodwill is the first food to spoil.
The moment he realized that to the bone. The taut cord of reason supporting the man didn't snap--instead, it crumbled like a rope rotted through by long wind and rain. It turned to dust.
"......"
THWACK--!
A wet, tearing impact fell heavy through the rain.
At the man's feet lay the one who had only ever scrambled to save himself, screaming and driving everyone else into mortal danger. The one who was always first to lose reason and drag the group to ruin.
In the man's hands was a heavy, rusted cast-iron poker that had been rolling by the fireplace.
"......"
Thwack.
Thwack.
Thwack.
Raise, strike.
Raise, strike.
The sounds of flesh being crushed and bone being ground mixed with the rain in rhythmic repetition. Dark red blood sprayed like a fountain, soaking the man's trouser cuffs and shirt.
"......"
There was no rage or madness in the man's movements.
Like an old farmer splitting firewood, or a laborer at a conveyor belt. He merely surrendered his body to gravity and inertia, repeating the dry up-and-down motion.
But those two hands...
"...How strange, Seong-min...."
Both his hands were convulsing like aspen leaves.
"I don't know why I'm doing this."
His hands, clenched white at every knuckle to keep from losing the blood-slicked iron, had thick veins surging as though they'd burst.
Each time he raised the weapon, the poker's tip vibrated from the violent tremors.
"Right now, I'm very much... reasoning through this. Understanding it perfectly."
And yet,
"Then why is it so revolting?"
Talk to me.
"You managed it every single time, again and again and again and again and again... so why can't I."
Every time the blunt weapon threatened to slip from his trembling fingertips, the man wrung out stubborn strength and continued his numb strikes.
Lightning struck, and the mountain lodge interior flashed pale for an instant.
"I'm so, so scared...."
Eyes sunken from nights without sleep, deep creases in the furrowed brow. In what had been gentle, steady eyes, there was now truly nothing left.
No shock or guilt over having killed a person, nor the catharsis of finally clearing an obstacle, nor the desperation of survival. Truly nothing. Empty.
"I feel so hollow I could go mad."
That was when.
The man's trembling jaw paused mid-ragged breath, and one corner of his tightly shut mouth twisted up grotesquely.
"...Heh...."
A deflating sound.
Before a mere lump of flesh, the man smiled just like that.
***
"--CUT!!"
When Seon-hae called it, murmuring gathered immediately.
"Boss, here's your coffee."
"Oh lord, I'm dying~ Must be the age, almost fifty--even arm exercises make my body ache."
"Right this way, sir."
Do-hyeon took a sip from the coffee his manager handed him, then walked toward Seon-hae and Gyeong-yeon.
"Gotta review the monitor."
He grinned and pressed his blood-smeared hand on the white table.
"Let's see if it came out good?"
"Ah, Mr. Cha. You're getting blood everywhere."
"Can a director really mistreat an actor like this?"
He slyly lifted his hand from the table and waved it with a theatrical pout. Convincing, as expected from an actor. Would've fooled anyone if not for the drenched fake blood on his palm.
On the corner of the white folding table he'd carelessly touched, sticky fake blood--a mixture of corn syrup and food coloring--clung in the shape of his large hand.
Director Seon-hae burst out laughing.
"Ahh, there's a murderer here!"
"Getting blood all over me and then slurping coffee--feels like I've eaten a few people."
"Looks like you already devoured one quite thoroughly~"
He'd vividly captured the 'bitter, hollow smile born of resignation and futility' from the script. The instant that abstract text borrowed this veteran actor's body and took shape, the raw terror that erupted was overwhelming enough to choke the staff.
"Alright, replaying that take now."
"Mmm, sounds good. Let's have a look."
On screen, the downpour began again.
Raw footage--no color grading, no sound effects. Beyond the rain, the dull thud of the lightweight urethane prop poker striking the stunt dummy on the floor came through the boom mic.
"Tilt up here... that's it."
Following the convulsing hands, the camera slowly tracked up and focused. The instant the man with empty eyes grotesquely twisted his lips into a dry, hollow laugh--
Even the staff passing by carrying equipment stopped and held their breath.
"Phew."
The one who broke that breathless silence was Do-hyeon himself. Crunching the remaining coffee ice, he pointed at himself on screen and clicked his tongue.
"Man, even I'd say that guy's beyond help. Completely repulsive. The jaw trembling might've been a beat early. What do you think, Director?"
"Oh, what are you talking about?"
Seon-hae grinned broadly.
"If it wasn't right, I would've cut it first~"
Gyeong-yeon nodded too.
"When you lift your head and the pin light drops, the way the life just dies in your pupils--that's good."
"The hollow laugh hits that sweet spot of chilling, too."
At that, Do-hyeon let out his trademark laugh.
"Ms. Hong wrote the script to drain the soul right out of a person."
"Was it too much?"
"Not too much. Though honestly, the hand trembling was half acting, half genuine cramp. The props team's poker was so light that the grip was just... off...."
"We made it light on purpose so there wouldn't be an accident."
"Pretending to shake like it weighed as much as real iron nearly blew out my forearm muscles."
He nudged Gyeong-yeon with his elbow.
"Next time, add some weight. Realism is your department."
"If the actor gets hurt, we're the ones who get chewed out...."
"Hey, just don't get hurt~"
Ignoring their banter, Seon-hae, who'd been watching only the footage, took her hand off the mouse and pressed the button with a light, decisive click.
"Okay!! The energy on that take was so good we're wrapping it in one take! Before we lose the flow, let's grab one more close-up insert of the poker-gripping hand!"
"Confirmed. Insert prep!"
"Lighting team, re-setting angles! Art team! Add a bit more blood on the floor!"
Do-hyeon tossed the empty plastic cup to his manager and cheered like a kid.
"Yes, one-take done. Might get off early today?"
"Let me work your shoulders, boss."
"Leave it, you punk. I gotta go back in looking exactly like this."
Gyeong-yeon looked between the vivid red handprint on the white table and Do-hyeon, blood-drenched and grinning as he strode across the set, and let out a hollow laugh.
"......"
"Ms. Hong, what's wrong?"
"...Doesn't feel real...."
And tonight they'd be holding an occult meeting. That was the situation.
***
The story rewinds several days.
To when the strange paranormal incidents began.
_____________________________
Thank you for visiting Hotel One.
Guests holding invitations push the door open.
The 22nd-floor Dining Room, where the foul downpour outside is sealed away as if by magic. From the chandelier hanging overhead, enormous silver candelabras cast an eerie yet elegant golden glow across the endlessly long table.
One by one, the guests filled the plush velvet chairs.
"Heehee!"
At the far end of the table, shrouded in deep shadow, a Vantablack cat watched the guests with round eyes.
"Hello?"
When the cat flicked its tail contentedly, a translucent interface window floated into the guests' field of vision.
> [SYSTEM] The Co-owner has secretly hosted an intimate tea party behind the General Manager's back.
> [SYSTEM] An external '?????' has temporarily connected to output answers to the guests' questions.
In the dark Dining Room, text began rapidly typing itself across the translucent system window floating in the air.
Q. I'm curious about Yeon-woo's MBTI!
A. [Lee Yeon-woo]
Youth: ENTJ-T
Middle period: ENTJ-A
Current: INTJ-A
[Co-owner]
Yeon-woo only: ESFP-T
Everyone else: ISTJ-A
Q. Is Yeon-woo's semi-formal speech pattern a reflection of a middle-aged man's influence, or more of a personality thing?
A. It's because this personality grew up shaped by that kind of middle-aged man.
Q. Do Yeon-woo's acquaintances and family remember him? Or have his records and existence been erased?
A. Both records and existence have been erased. As of the latest chapter, no one remembers 'Lee Yeon-woo.'
Q. I'm so curious about Yeon-woo's reaction when he first played the game! And how he ended up continuing!
A. He thought, 'What kind of garbage game is this.' That's how love begins.
Q. Yeon-woo doubts and nitpicks Coco, but does Coco only feel fondness toward Yeon-woo?
A. It has felt nothing but fondness since Chapter 1.
Q. How much of a delicacy is Yeon-woo's blood?
A. Based on unrefined blood, both ordinary people and blood mages can enjoy it.
For anyone other than a Lidmar, it is a delicacy at an unacceptable level.
Q. Does Coco see Yeon-woo as a colleague, or as a mega-best-friend?
A. It thinks of him as more than that.
Q. Coco can freely change forms, so why does it stay as a cat? Is that the Co-owner's preference?
A. There are somewhat complex reasons, and Coco's own preference is definitely reflected.
Q. If you grab and stretch Coco's cheeks, how far do they go?
A. Given the right conditions, around the Earth once is possible. Though it likely wouldn't comply for anyone other than Yeon-woo.
Q. Coco is so cute and lovable, I can't live without Coco, we must promote one-Coco-per-person adoption, and to that end I want to know Coco's preferences--what's Coco's ideal butler type?
A. Yeon-woo.
Q. Yeon-woo has fed Coco all sorts of things--what's the top pick favorite food for our chubby piggy-cat Coco?
A. Food that Yeon-woo feeds it.
Q. Does Coco have jelly pads on its front paws?
A. If Yeon-woo wants them, it will create them.
Q. Will there be Coco illustrations... please?
A. I will do my best.
Q. Mermaids appear in all your works--how did you come to be so fascinated by mermaids?
A. I love the unknown deep sea, and mermaids happen to be the mildest concept I can use to represent it.
Q. Does the Aqua Park where the mermaid usually stays have hot baths? Can the temperature go high enough to cook a person?
A. There are hot baths of various themes. As for water temperature, when horror elements are applied or the mode switches to Closed Version, it can rise or fall to outlandish levels.
Q. What feelings does the Guest Without Taste have toward Yeon-woo--specifically, the Devil he met in the past? Did both sides consider each other friends?
A. The vampire himself did not consider them friends. The other side likely didn't either.
Q. I'm curious why the Guest Without Taste was able to reach the high rank of Lidmar!
A. Having studied under a blood mage teacher and gained reasonably grounded confidence, he skipped the proper stages and attempted the Velmareth ritual directly, failed, and was fixed at Lidmar.
His abilities were strong enough that he put up a good fight. It is the most hopeful case among failures of the Crimson Core Commentary ritual--a miracle born of talent and obstinacy.
Q. Does the Guest Without Taste regret performing the ritual? Or was he relieved to be freed from being alive?
A. Being greedy, he both regretted it and was satisfied.
Q. Can No. 14 be happy? When will it receive a name? I really don't want to call our baby slime No. 14. I'm begging. Please give it a name. Our baby slime must be made happy. I will offer my liver, my gallbladder, anything. Please give our baby a name. Even without screen time, just let it live well.
A. Even if the whole world threw stones, Yeon-woo would take responsibility and make it happy.
Q. Could you compile the official definitions for labyrinth, Dokkaebi, mage, and Artist? I want to deepen my understanding of the worldbuilding.
A. In brief:
Labyrinth = Dungeon
Dokkaebi = Monster
Mage = Spirit
Artist = Esper
In detail:
Labyrinth
: A grand stage and closed narrative formed from past events, stories, and desires. It treats external creatures as prey or food, and is rarely created artificially. Being a type of theater, it will repeat the same story forever unless a special variable intervenes.
Dokkaebi
: Intelligent natural disaster.
General Dokkaebi / Recognition Species
: Cases where the character's ego was strong from the moment of creation, or where a labyrinth with vast accumulated time and energy became advanced enough to develop a self. Called by different names in different countries; in Korea's Gaps, they are commonly referred to as 'Dokkaebi.'
Traditional Dokkaebi / Phantasmal Species
: A type of Phantasmal Species--indigenous Korean spirits born when human emotion and long stretches of time seep into specific objects or natural features. They follow the path of animals, value promises, loyalty, and honest rules, and are generally friendly enough to live among humans, but can be dangerous if one lets their guard down.
Phantasmal Species
: Creatures or races appearing in myths and legends. Includes beings with supernatural abilities such as phoenixes, qilin, and unicorns. Korea's Traditional Dokkaebi are also a type.
Mage
: Residents of The Gaps--energy bodies that possess innate natural attributes and follow the path of the elements. They resemble humans but are inanimate, energetic entities. Unlike Artists who perform miracles, they wield supernatural abilities through magic computation, a form of scholarship. Evolution into an Artist is possible.
Artist
: Espers who physically manifest imagination and concepts, twist the laws of the world, and create their own rules. Typically of human origin from mainstream society, they perform transcendent miracles through calculation, the unconscious, and intuition alone. They can additionally learn magic, unlike ordinary people.
The Six Fundamental Systems
: Manifestation System / The type that pulls imagination or concepts into physical existence.
: Phase System / The type that warps and reconstructs physical laws or spatial structures of reality.
: Resonance System / The type that directly interferes with others' emotions and mental states through waves or symbolism.
: Alchemy System / The type that redefines the properties and forms of existing matter.
: Detection System / The type that sees through a subject's essence, truth, or hidden aspects.
: Archive System / The type that fixes and preserves specific moments in time or events.
Outcomes and advantages are determined by many variables, but the basic matchup chart is as follows:
Six Systems Matchup Diagram
: Manifestation > Detection > Archive > Resonance > Phase > Alchemy > Manifestation
Manifestation > Detection
: No matter how thoroughly you see through weaknesses, information is helpless against an overwhelming physical barrage.
Detection > Archive
: Even within sealed time or repeating records, Detection instinctively finds the core and breaks through.
Archive > Resonance
: Resonance needs flow like a wave to exert power, but Archive petrifies or halts that flow itself, neutralizing Resonance.
Resonance > Phase
: Even when Phase warps space, formless sound and emotion cross distorted dimensions to directly strike the caster's mind.
Phase > Alchemy
: Alchemy requires touching or defining matter to activate, but Phase warps distance itself or separates spaces so hands can't reach.
Alchemy > Manifestation
: Manifestation's creations are merely excellent raw material for Alchemy. A conjured weapon can be instantly turned to clay.
Q. Can Human Guests be hired as staff?
A. Yes.
Q. Who do you consider the biggest troublemaker, author? Have they appeared yet? Personally, I think it's Coco....
A. They have appeared, but it is not Coco.
Q. You're writing from personal experience, aren't you?? Right? Right?? RIGHT??
A. [Hello?]
Q. I think the invitation was sent to the wrong person. May I return it?
A. "? No?"
"Coco."
"No!"
"Coco, enough."
A hand in a white cotton glove lifted the black cat(?).
"Trying to lure in Human Guests again."
"Eing."
"I won't be listening."
"Eeeing!"
"Your tantrums have grown."
The man looked at all of you.
"I'll be closing the door now, so please head inside safely."
"Hello?"
"Well then...."
Golden eyes curved.
"I look forward to meeting you with an even more enjoyable story."
[The invitation does not exist or has been deleted.]
Q. If you wanted to visit the hotel as a Human Guest, what stats would you need?
A. Anyone who catches the hotel's fancy may come at any time. Whether you can leave depends on the General Manager's internal struggle. Good luck.
If you wish to visit safely, the General Manager must be aware of your existence, you must hold an invitation with the relevant terms, your survival-specialized talent must be on the verge of Awakening as an Artist, or you must already be an Artist with strong survival abilities.
Outside of those cases, there is no way for a 'human' guest to safely return from the hotel. However, in most cases, the General Manager is aware of every guest, so feel free to visit without worry.
Q. Is there a reason Dokkaebi take jobs and pretend to be human in society?
A. There are many reasons, but usually it's either a grand conspiracy or they're just bored.
Q. I'm curious about your character naming process!
A. I flip through a Hanja dictionary considering the character's traits, personality, fate, and family environment.
Q. I think the invitation came to the wrong address. May I send it back?
A. "? No?"
"Coco."
"No!"
"Coco, stop."
Q. Is there a story behind what inspired you to write Hoone?
A. I constantly imagine by cycling through topics that attract me. The ones where a beginning-middle-end roughly takes shape get fleshed out. In this case, it was horror games.
